Wagar, Fertility and Phallic Stelae: Cushitic Sky-God ... · ORIGINAL ARTICLE Wagar, Fertility and...

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ORIGINAL ARTICLE Wagar , Fertility and Phallic Stelae: Cushitic Sky-God Belief and the Site of Saint Aw-Barkhadle, Somaliland Sada Mire Published online: 22 March 2015 # The Author(s) 2015. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com Abstract This article is the first to present a study on the wagar , a sacred wooden sculpture kept by Somali women. This study explores the wagar and its significance as a sacred medium within fertility rituals and the religious syncretism in which such indigenous and non/pre-Islamic practice is appropriated and applied for reproduction purposes. The wagar seems to denote a Cushitic symbol of belief in sacred trees within Somali society. The article further explores the potential link between the wagar and the Sky-God Waaq, adhered to by the Cushitic people of the Horn both before and during the practice of Christianity and Islam. The author suggests that the religious centre of Saint Aw-Barkhadle, located in the twelfth-century Islamic ruined townwhich was a major pre-Islamic ritual and burial site according to recent archaeological workmay be linked with the practices of the pre-Islamic religion of Waaq. The article suggests the wagar and phallic gravestones discovered at Aw-Barkhadle and in other parts of the Horn of Africa may be part of Sky-God belief, with an ideology rooted in fertility. Along with traditional archaeological methods, the article also uses the knowledge-centred approach, taking into account local knowledge, oral history and folklore to explore this regions past. The study of the wagar and the shrine of Aw- Barkhadle contributes to the archaeology of religion and to historical archaeology in the Horn of Africa. Résumé Cet article constitue la première étude sur le Wagar, une sculpture sur bois sacré gardée par les femmes somaliennes. Cette recherche étudie le Wagar et sa signification en tant que véhicule sacré dans les rites de fécondité ainsi que le syncrétisme religieux dans lequel une pratique indigène et non/préislamique est oppor- tune et appliquée à des fins de reproduction. Le Wagar semble désigner un symbole couchitique de croyances aux arbres sacrés au sein de la société somalienne. Ainsi, cet article explore le lien potentiel entre le Wagar et le couchitique Dieu du Ciel appelé Waaq, obéis par les gens de la Corne avant et après le Christianisme et lIslam. L auteur suggère que le centre religieux de Saint Aw-Barkhadle, situé dans la ville en ruine du douzième siècle, soit attaché aux pratiques des religions préislamique du Waaq, le Dieu Afr Archaeol Rev (2015) 32:93109 DOI 10.1007/s10437-015-9181-z S. Mire (*) ERC Researcher, Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands e-mail: [email protected]

Transcript of Wagar, Fertility and Phallic Stelae: Cushitic Sky-God ... · ORIGINAL ARTICLE Wagar, Fertility and...

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Wagar, Fertility and Phallic Stelae: Cushitic Sky-GodBelief and the Site of Saint Aw-Barkhadle, Somaliland

Sada Mire

Published online: 22 March 2015# The Author(s) 2015. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com

Abstract This article is the first to present a study on the wagar, a sacred woodensculpture kept by Somali women. This study explores the wagar and its significance asa sacred medium within fertility rituals and the religious syncretism in which suchindigenous and non/pre-Islamic practice is appropriated and applied for reproductionpurposes. The wagar seems to denote a Cushitic symbol of belief in sacred trees withinSomali society. The article further explores the potential link between the wagar andthe Sky-God Waaq, adhered to by the Cushitic people of the Horn both before andduring the practice of Christianity and Islam. The author suggests that the religiouscentre of Saint Aw-Barkhadle, located in the twelfth-century Islamic ruined town—which was a major pre-Islamic ritual and burial site according to recent archaeologicalwork—may be linked with the practices of the pre-Islamic religion of Waaq. The articlesuggests the wagar and phallic gravestones discovered at Aw-Barkhadle and in otherparts of the Horn of Africa may be part of Sky-God belief, with an ideology rooted infertility. Along with traditional archaeological methods, the article also uses theknowledge-centred approach, taking into account local knowledge, oral history andfolklore to explore this region’s past. The study of the wagar and the shrine of Aw-Barkhadle contributes to the archaeology of religion and to historical archaeology in theHorn of Africa.

Résumé Cet article constitue la première étude sur le ‘Wagar’, une sculpture sur boissacré gardée par les femmes somaliennes. Cette recherche étudie le Wagar et sasignification en tant que véhicule sacré dans les rites de fécondité ainsi que lesyncrétisme religieux dans lequel une pratique indigène et non/préislamique est oppor-tune et appliquée à des fins de reproduction. Le Wagar semble désigner un symbolecouchitique de croyances aux arbres sacrés au sein de la société somalienne. Ainsi, cetarticle explore le lien potentiel entre le Wagar et le couchitique Dieu du Ciel – appeléWaaq, obéis par les gens de la Corne avant et après le Christianisme et l’Islam. L’auteursuggère que le centre religieux de Saint Aw-Barkhadle, situé dans la ville en ruine dudouzième siècle, soit attaché aux pratiques des religions préislamique du Waaq, le Dieu

Afr Archaeol Rev (2015) 32:93–109DOI 10.1007/s10437-015-9181-z

S. Mire (*)ERC Researcher, Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlandse-mail: [email protected]

du Ciel. Le Wagar peut être une idole de la croyance au Waaq. L'article suggère que leWagar ainsi que les marqueurs de tombes phalliques découverts à Aw-Barkhadle et àd’autres endroits de la Corne de l'Afrique semblent faire partie de la croyance au Dieudu Ciel et une idéologie de la fertilité. Parallèlement aux méthodes archéologiquestraditionnelles, l'article utilise également l'approche centrée sur le savoir qui prend encompte les connaissances locales, l'histoire orale et le folklore pour explorer le passé decette région. L'étude du Wagar et le sanctuaire de Aw-Barkhadle situé dans la ville dudouzième siècle en ruine du même nom, contribue à l'archéologie de la religion et àl'archéologie historique de la Corne de l'Afrique

Keywords Somali .Anthropologyandarchaeologyof religion .Wagar. Sky-GodWaaq .

Syncretism . Aw-Barkhadle . Fertility . Phallic gravestones . Shrines

Introduction

One wonders what Picasso might have produced had he encountered and engaged withthe wagar (Fig. 1) to the same extent that he did with West African sculpture. Very fewpeople have, in fact, been exposed to Somali material art outside Somali territory. HereI introduce the wagar, a symbol of fertility and part of a wider aesthetic of reproductionwithin Somali female society, both in the past and present. The wagar is made from asacred tree considered to possess divine power. Cults of fecundity are found all over theHorn of Africa; I suggest that the wagar is rooted in a pre-Islamic fertility cult that haspersisted in a Muslim society. The wagar and its rituals are associated with the pre-Islamic religion of the Aw-Barkhadle shrine, part of what I consider a sacred land-scape—that is to say, an area used solely for ritual purposes, having natural and culturalfeatures that possess ritual meaning, and seen in the local context as “sacred” due to itsreligious resonance. I also use the term to convey a sense of its ongoing, active use.

Female fertility rituals and use of the archaeological landscape testify to thesyncretisation of pre-Islamic and Islamic spiritualities, as will be shown by the inte-gration of Christian elements as well as traditionalist pre-Islamic elements; theseinclude phallic gravestones incorporated into Islamic burials and the ritual landscapein which they are situated. As such, fertility rituals are significant for understanding andinterpreting archaeological landscapes, including the shrine of Aw-Barkhadle, believedto predate the ruined town of that name dated to the thirteenth century. In this way,material and ritual data contribute to the archaeology of religion and to historical

Fig. 1 The wagar of the author’s family, 2013. (Photo: by author)

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archaeology in the Horn of Africa. The archaeology of religion has been discussedwidely for the African continent and elsewhere (e.g., Insoll 2003, 2004, 2011; Dawson2009; Steadman 2009).

In recent times, the wagar tradition has been practised in a highly secretive way, notonly because of the taboo nature of infertility but also due to the influence of ArabianSalafi Islam, which is violently opposed to “pagan” or “infidel” practices. As a result,the use of the wagar in rituals today seems to be restricted to people in parts of northernSomalia, including internationally unrecognised Somaliland.

Somali verbal art is often more accessible than Somali artefacts. This is due partly tothe region’s strong oral traditions and partly also to the displacement Somali peoplehave suffered over the last two decades of civil war. In this displacement, people oftenhave had to leave behind most of their material possessions. As most of the Somalihave lived and/or still live a nomadic or seminomadic lifeway, they learn from a youngage the significance of skills in making essential material culture (Mire 2007, 2011).

In this fashion, knowledge of the skills for making objects is preserved andcurated orally. This pragmatic approach to the preservation of heritage stems fromnomadism itself, which encourages carrying fewer objects, and praises skills thatcan be utilised to make objects when needed. The entire landscape thus has afundamental role in sustaining all that it means to be a thriving human being,socially, culturally and intellectually. For nomads, it seems, this landscape is“home,” rather than their identifying closely with a specific structure at a fixedpoint on the ground. This is why Somalis talk about the landscapes in which theygrew up, and the things they learned from their parents and grandparents, as thecentrepiece of their cultural heritage rather than objects or monuments. Theseexperiences, oral histories and memories are the heritage they carry wherever theygo. I have called this the knowledge-centred approach to heritage (Mire 2007,2011). It facilitates the transmission process of both tangible and intangibleknowledge through time and space, and from generation to generation. Thisapproach has begun to gain acceptance (e.g., Aygen 2013; Linde and Drieset al. 2012; Posnansky 2013). Other scholars have considered and endorsed itspotential in viewing archaeology and heritage as something beyond objects andmonuments, and in fact connected to communities through experiences, skills,stories, tradition, memories and folklore.

Very little is known about Somali material art and culture in broader contexts, andSomali artefacts have been absent from exhibitions for decades. It has been many yearssince the “Somalia in Word and Image” exhibition, the catalogue of which was editedby Loughran (1986), and longer still since the appearance of Arnoldi’s (1984) “TheArtistic Heritage of Somalia” article based on museum collections. The ongoing civilwar has also led to the systematic looting and dislocation of Somali artefacts. Allnational and local museums have been looted (Mire 2007).

Even in the museums of former colonial powers (Britain and Italy), Somali collec-tions including archaeological material sit in storage rooms as they have for more than acentury, when most were first assembled. The storage rooms are located often in remotefacilities far from the Western metropolitan museums to which the collections belong.There is little documentation for these collections, accompanied as the latter often aremerely with notes saying, for example, “a spear from Italian Somaliland/BritishSomaliland.”

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I have not seen a wagar in the collections encountered so far. It should not come as asurprise, then, that this article is the first study of this sacred, secret sculpture (Figs. 1and 2). The Somali wagar tree is the African olive (Olea europaea sp. africana)(Miskell 2000 on IUCN; USDA). The wild olive is endemic to Somalia, growing onmountain slopes and in woodlands, often near water. Over the last 7 years inSomaliland, I have located the wagar tree at some of the highest points of theSomali plateau: in the Sanaag region at the mountains of Daalo and Jilib Rihin(Fig. 3), in the mountain chain of Dhameer Gowrac near Laaso, and in Garbo Diir inthe Togdheer region. These forests of wagar do not seem to have been planted; the treegrows naturally. A number of rock art sites happen to be in these mountain chains, suchas Jilib Rihin and Haadh (Mire 2008). The symbolic rock art, along with the manyancient burials (dolmens and cairns) dotting the peaks, suggests that these mountainchains with wagar forests may have been places of past ritual activity.

In Somali society, the entire wagar tree is considered to be blessed and sacred (geedamran), and every part from root to leaves can be used for fighting illness andmalevolent activities. It is not clear, however, if the wagar has medicinal qualitiesfrom an ethno-botanical perspective beyond its perceived sacredness (amran).

To my knowledge, the wagar is the only wooden, carved object or sculpture that thepeople of northern Somalia unequivocally consider sacred. Women keep a wagar tobecome pregnant and protect their fertility, as well as to shield their potential offspringfrom harm. This is the primary role of the wagar in Somali society today. Womenconsider it to be an old tradition. It came to my attention as I grew up with it in Somalia,learning about it through my late maternal grandmother, who had inherited her ownmaternal grandmother’s wagar (Fig. 1). She kept this wagar to protect the generationsof children she raised or helped raise. Eventually, I inherited this same wagar, believedto be at least a hundred years old. Its black colour is due to its age, as the wood getsdarker with the passage of time; the actual colour of the wood is yellow-brown orbrown (Fig. 2).

The Production of the Wagar and Other Ritual Wooden Objects

There are specialised male carvers in different regions of Somalia. The aesthetic valueof the wagar seems to be of importance within the interplay of men’s creativity andwomen’s aesthetic pleasure. As such, the wagar can be made in different sizes toconform to personal preferences. Some are beautifully ornamented (Fig. 2) and moreelaborate than others.

Fig. 2 A wagar bundled with sacred grass, 2013 (Photo: by author)

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Wood is one of the most significant raw materials in Somali material culture, andwooden objects like the wagar are almost always carved from a single piece of wood.Other wooden art from Somalia includes headrests (barkin), spoons (fandhaal), combs(saqaf or shanlo) and wooden stools (gember or gambadh) (cf. Grottanelli 1986).These, including the ritually important wooden writing planks/blocks or tablets (loohor lawh) used at the Islamic Qur’anic schools, made by men.

In addition, there is an abundance of artefacts made by women, particularly those ofnomadic origin (cf. Mire 2006). Among the many objects nomadic women create, itmay be worth mentioning here some specifically relating to fertility. The heedho is aritual vessel used for wedding ceremonies made with fibre from the euphorbia bush incombination with animal skin (saan). Ritual foods may also be kept in the haan, a milkvessel. The protecting basket of the haanmay be used as gambis (turned upside down),with a traditional incense burner (dabqaad) made from meerschaum placed under it.The incense permeates the women’s clothes hanging over it, and this is believed topurify the person and sanctify the occasion, allowing the woman to receive sacredfertility.

Symbolisms, Associations and Taboos

Most of the wagar are about 35–45 cm in length. The narrow end measures about 2 cmin width, and it gets progressively more robust in the middle. The top end is the widest,between 4 and 6 cm. The form of the handle is not entirely round; usually, it is moreoval, flattening near the top. The top is either a basic flat shape, or one side might havetwo bumps (Fig. 2). Sometimes the two bumps are mirrored at the other end as well.

Fig. 3 Wagar, the sacred tree (the African olive), taken at Daallo Mountains, Sanaag region, October 2007(Photo: by author)

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The wagar itself is thought to be an anthropomorphic representation of a sacredfeature or figure, indicating an indigenous non-Islamic religious fertility practice inSomali culture. The bumps appear to be anthropomorphic, perhaps alluding to thedistended belly of a pregnant woman. Because of the fact that currently the wagar isassociated entirely with women and “underground” fertility rituals, it is said that thewagar symbolises perhaps an ancient religious female figure, a pre-Islamic femaledeity according to male informants.

In the interpretation of the wagar as a symbol of female power, it is intriguing tonote that according to legend, the region of present-day Somalia and Somaliland wasruled by a powerful queen named Araweello. The archaeological cairns common inSomali territory are called araweelloyin, since they are thought to be the graves of thisqueen’s pagan followers in pre-Islamic times. According to the legend, QueenAraweello used to make men perform tricky tasks and enslaved them; this is, peoplesay, because she hated men. She is thought to have had Pharaonic qualities. Finally, herown grandson, who assumed power over the country, killed her. The centrality ofwomanhood itself, expressed through the veneration of powerful or pious women andgoddesses, is an intriguing aspect of fertility cults. However, no female informants havementioned any ancient female figure in association with the wagar. The women whopractise this secretly, currently, perhaps do not want attention and may avoid open linkswith “pagan” culture. Sociopolitically, in the strongly patriarchal society of the Somali,myths or ideas of strong female figures are not foregrounded. The female figures mostrevered by the Somali are the first woman (Eve/Haawa) and the first Muslim woman(Fatima, the Prophet’s daughter). The Sitaat tradition (Siti or Haawa and Fatima), aceremony organised by and for women to celebrate female ancestors in the past and thepresent, is an example of this devotional idiom.

As a result of the legends surrounding the wagar, its links with the issue of sterility,and the rising tide of Salafi influence in Somalia, the Sufi sheikhs who would otherwiseopenly perform fertility rituals such as rainmaking try to avoid links with the object, aswell as all other recently termed “non-Islamic rituals.” Salafism opposes belief in theintercession of any spiritual figure but Allah and does not allow the veneration of Sufisaints, as takes place at the Aw-Barkhadle shrine. The destruction of Sufi shrines bylocal radical Muslim groups in Somalia is ongoing (Mire 2011), paralleling events inMali and other African countries with Muslim populations. The stigma surroundingsterility itself helps drive these fertility rituals even further underground. The wagar isfast becoming a truly secret practice.

The Fertility Rituals of the Wagar - Gubka (The Burning)

Different parts of the wagar tree are used to heal women in times of illness, dependingon the nature of the malady. The wagar provides fertility through its attributed divinequalities. Barren women are treated with the wagar as a form of healing (dabiib) ormedicine (dhaymo). The wagar’s pointed tip is heated in oil and then placed on parts ofthe abdomen, burning particular spots three times. Several locations on the woman’ships are burned, leaving permanent scars. This fertility ritual is called gub (burning) andis important for a woman who wishes to be blessed by the wagar and granted a child.After use, the wagar is kept in a kolay (a private box), usually placed among the

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woman’s private possessions. Elderly women keep wagars under their beds, to guardthemselves against evil spirits at night.

The Wagar in the Protection of Kinship and Children

The Somali clan system is patrilineal, and almost every Somali knows who they are byfollowing his or her clan tree, abtirsiimo (the prefix ab denotes descent and bloodlines,and tirsiimo refers to counting). These oral genealogies outline the origin and history ofall Somalis. Some argue that the clan trees may extend back to the eleventh century oreven further in some cases.

The strong sense of identity Somalis obtained through the clan system iscomplemented by the culture of nomadism, which imparts a sense of being rooted toa specific kind of lifestyle. As a patriarchal society, there are elements that strengthenthe importance of the males for the reproduction of the clan. The protection of the first-born boy is very important since males are the future inheritors of family wealth andstatus and may come to hold prestigious titles in the clan.

When a child is born, it must be protected against the pernicious influence ofumadaha hoose (evil spirits; lit. “underground beings”) and shaydaan or jin (Satan,the devil). The wagar plays an important role in the protection of potential offspring. Aperiod of seclusion takes place in the first 40 days after the birth of a child, duringwhich the mother is not allowed to leave the house unless going to an outdoor toilet,which she may do only when no one can see her. The goal is to protect the woman andthe child against malevolent spiritual forces, including the evil eye. It also serves as apreventive measure against infectious illnesses. Traditionally, when the mother mustleave the home during her seclusion, she carries the wagar with her, holding it up infront of her as she walks. A wagar is placed near the child, usually under its bed orpillow, to stop an evil spirit from approaching.

In the child protection ritual, various objects are tied to the wagar to add furthersymbolic meanings and mystical power. One of my informants in Somaliland explainedhow she carried a wagar and adorned her son with amulets against illnesses and evilspirits so he would have offspring in the future:

My son also had the xildiid and xabasuud [mix of herbs] tied to his arm [anamulet]. Then I gave the qurbaan [the sacrificial offerings to Saint Aw-Barkhadle]. My boy had headgear made of fat from haydh [stomach fat fromsheep and goat]. The hair is removed and the haydh is tied to his head every year[for the veneration of Aw-Barkhadle] till he got married. I have now stoppedsince he is an adult with children of his own. (“Elderly lady 2” in Hargeysa, 2007)

Alongside haydh, a great many additional materials are required for this ritual. Theitems are usually made from iron, trees and grass from sacred landscapes. Often, theshrines of Sufi saints in Somalia and Somaliland fall into this category. The aforemen-tioned sacrificial offering was made to the shrine of the twelfth-century Saint Aw-Barkhadle, a sacred site that will be explored in greater detail below. Such landscapesand items carry multivalent symbolic meanings and suggest the appropriation of pre-Islamic traditions regarding the sacredness and power of the natural world. The mother

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collects ‘aws (grass and palm leaves) from blessed bushes with healing importance andbundles them together with iron objects and a wagar. Some also suggest the use ofhabaasuud and malmal (herbs and resins). Sharp metal items such as the tooray(dagger), midi (knife), musbaar (screw) and makiinad (razorblade) are attached to thewagar with grass and palm leaves, forming a ritual bundle. The knives, in this context,have further significance with regards to fertility as they are also used forsacrificial slaughter during rainmaking ceremonies. There are records of depictionsof knives in the more recent rock art of this region (Grottanelli 1986), which mayindicate the relevance of the knife also in the region’s archaeology. Iron also shinesand the glow is important when “confusing” the evil spirits. Iron has also, it isconsidered, a magical power and is associated with fertility. The informants (duringgroup interview with “20 women at Laaso,” 2007) point out that they also usediron objects to protect the child from evil spirits. Hence, materials such as iron,wood (trees) and grass are linked to the sacred landscape, and its trees and wells.According to legend, Sufi sheikhs including Aw-Barkhadle used iron spears tomiraculously create wells. Elsewhere in Africa, the ritual and symbolic significanceof iron is recognised in scholarship (e.g., Reid and Maclean 1995; Schmidt andMapunda 1997). The role of iron in the gender symbolism also has been explored(e.g., Herbert 1993; Schmidt 1998, 1996).

Once assembled, the bundle is then placed under the head of a newborn baby. In myown family, similar arrangements were made for the children using the wagar forprotection against evil spirits. The wagar leaves are thought to keep bad spirits out ofthe house and are hence placed around it. Some children will also wear beads withprotective power around the neck and waist. In addition, some parents might acquireamulets containing papers with writings from verses of the Qur’an. However, thispractice is not supported by the Ulema (Muslim legal scholars), who argue that theamulets are impious.

The potency of the wagar persists within the Somali Diaspora too. I am awareof many occasions when Somali men have brought a wagar from Somaliland toSweden and the UK, for example, as a gift to their wives who have given birth,especially if the children were boys. Some highly educated couples enjoy a freeand high-quality health care system in countries such as Sweden, yet the wagarremains important for the protection of the children (particularly boys) from evilspirits.

The Wagar as a Sacred Weapon

The wagar is, as established, from a sacred tree, and for this reason is used as a sacredweapon to fight not only abstract enemies such as umaddaha hoose but also flesh-and-blood people. The current belief is that God protects the person carrying a wagar (i.e.,this person has God on his/her side, which gives the bearer spiritual superiority andassures victory). The wagar is held in one hand on the level of the person’s head infront of the face. In this context, the wagar brings saa‘iiido (good luck). Both womenand men use the wagar to injure someone physically. The fact that the use of the wagaris associated with religious superiority indicates, perhaps, memory of a powerful deitylinked with the wagar in older traditions. However, the use of the wagar against evil

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spirits is currently related exclusively to the fertility cult, which is the wagar’s mainimportance within Somali society at the present time.

The Wagar, Bu‘ur Ba‘ayr and the Site of Aw-Barkhadle

Merrick Posnansky (2013, p. 48) writes,

Unless we are aware of practices in Africa, we are at a disadvantage as weconcentrate on the physical manifestations of life such as pots. How did thepeople we study celebrate the seasons and meaningful passages within life?What would have been the manifestations if any of such commemorations?Shrines, however ephemeral, thus can become as significant as dwelling oractivity sites.

Women in the northern part of Somalia know about the wagar, its meaning andassociated practices. Many people also link it to pre-Islamic times, particularly duringthe conversion to Islam in northern Somalia between the tenth and thirteenth centuries.Some suggest that the use of the wagar existed perhaps in the pre-Islamic Bu‘ur Ba‘ayrera of the Aw-Barkhadle site. The legend of Bu‘ur Ba‘ayr (Mohamed Hanif) andsuspected pre-Islamic practices are deeply linked with the site of Aw-Barkhadle,including the Hill of Bu‘ur Ba‘ayr. Informants suggest that 850 years ago, anArabian sheikh, Sharif Yusuf Al-Kawnayn—Saint Aw-Barkhadle—came to the areaonce known as Dogor but now named after him (Mire forthcoming).

According to the oral history, Aw-Barkhadle has been a centre of Muslim pilgrimagesince the twelfth century and is part of a medieval ruined town. Aw-Barkhadle is a 30-minute drive from Hargeysa, the capital of Somaliland, and the tomb of this saint hassince become the most important pilgrimage centre in Somali territory (Figs. 4 and 5).The ideological and political significance of African shrines has been demonstrated byDawson (2009), although there is no mention of shrines from the Horn of Africa inDawson’s volume. However, I have found that Aw-Barkhadle has similar politicalsignificance. Local people at Aw-Barkhadle attribute the conversion of Somalis toIslam, to the defeat by duel of the previous religious leader, Bu‘ur Ba‘ayr, by theMuslim newcomer Aw-Barkhadle. The Saint showed the religious superiority of hisbeliefs in contrast to the local beliefs of Bu‘ur Ba‘ayr’s followers, whom the formerwon over in great number.

One of the important potential links between the ritual landscape of Aw-Barkhadleand the wagar is exemplified by an account of an anthropomorphic wooden sculptureused at the tomb of Saint Aw-Barkhadle for female fertility rituals. Women brought acloth or sling, qayd, to carry the anthropomorphic wooden sculpture while they prayedfor fertility in Aw-Barkhadle’s tomb. The qayd is used usually to carry a child. In thisritual, the sculpture symbolises the baby the woman longs for. When I asked to see thissculpture at Aw-Barkhadle, I was told that the Qur’an has replaced it in recent years.Now, women carry the Qur’an in the qayd and say special prayers asking for fertility.

Furthermore, the Aw-Barkhadle site is also an ideologically important burial site ofthe Muslim rulers of Awdal, particularly the Walashma dynasty of the thirteenth andfourteenth centuries AD (Paulitschke 1888). Our team located numerous ruined towns

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dating to the thirteenth century in Somaliland that produced Yuan Dynasty pottery. Wealso discovered important pre-Islamic heritage at this site in the form of Christianburials, as well as phallic gravestones, dolmens and non-Islamic burial mounds (cairns)attesting to indigenous (Cushitic) beliefs.

The landscape and the ritually significant archaeological features such as tombs,stones (including phallic stones), shrines, and hilltops are all part of the fertility rituals(Mire forthcoming). Those associated with Aw-Barkhadle incorporated, until recently,

Fig. 4 Plan of the Aw-Barkhadle sacred landscape. Map data: Google and CNES Spot image

Fig. 5 The Shrine of Saint Aw-Barkhadle, near Hargeisa, Somaliland, September 2007 (Photo: by author)

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Christian elements too. For example, during the annual pilgrimage (ziyara), Muslimpilgrims start by the Bu‘ur Ba‘ayr mountain and mix chalk from the rocks of thismountain with water from the sacred well; they use the white pigment to paint aChristian cross on their foreheads before proceeding to circumambulate (dawafa) Aw-Barkhadle’s mausoleum. The ziyara is carried out to obtain blessings, including rainsand fertility. These syncretic practices were common until recently at Aw-Barkhadle.The link between Christianity and the Aw-Barkhadle archaeological landscape isevidenced by the discovery of gravestones in situ, carved with the EthiopianOrthodox cross. Not only is the site of Aw-Barkhadle associated with pre-Islamicpeoples, but the Christian gravestones and cairns add to the multi-religious significanceof the site, a place where people from different religions were buried. Both the pre-Islamic and Islamic religious figures, and the practices credited to them in terms ofrituals in the sacred landscape of Aw-Barkhadle, emphasise fertility and its symbolism.

It would be wise to also note an old Somali saying that refers to the wagar: “wagariyo ka waasi‘an,” which means “even more powerful (audacious) than the wagar andall that.” Older generations tend to use it. A mother wishing to chastise a child whocomes home late at night may say it to emphasise the child’s audacity in going beyondthe agreed-upon time. Now the expression is often lost on the younger generations, whomay not know what the actual words refer to, much less what a wagar is.

According to one of my interviewees, a local Sufi, “Abdi” (2007), who is locallyacknowledged for his interest in history of the Somalis and Sufism,

Wagarku wuxuu kajoogaa sanamadii hore eela caabudijiray berigii jaahilyada,ee Bu‘ur Ba‘ayr iyo dadkiisii joogay Aw-Barkhadle.

[Wagar is a remnant of the ancient idols that were worshiped in the time ofpaganism, by Bu‘ur Ba‘ayr and his people at the site of Aw-Barkhadle.]

According to this, the expression was coined when Bu‘ur Ba‘ayr lost his duel withSheikh Yusuf Aw-Barkhadle. So the rationale goes as follows: If the leader of thepeople who believed in the wagar was trapped in a mountain by a man with newpowers, the new religious power must have been greater than that of the previousleader. The expression, “wagar iyo ka waasi‘an” refers to a power greater than that ofthe wagar: that of Allah. Therefore, in the context of a defiant child, it suggests an evengreater audacity on the part of the child in daring to go further than before.

It seems that the wagar was an idol worshipped in this region before the conversionto Islam. Regardless of the current rituals associated with the wagar in Somali femalesociety, it seems to be relevant to the discussion of the site of Aw-Barkhadle, given thatsome of the informants (“Abdi” 2007; cf. “Elderly lady in Aw-Barkhadle” 2007)suggested a relationship between it and the Aw-Barkhadle sacred landscape.

The Wagar, Waaq and Phallic Symbolism

According to the legend, Bu‘ur Ba‘ayr married couples by sleeping with the brideduring the first six nights of the marriage. I have argued elsewhere (Mire forthcoming)that this likely served to sanctify the marriage and grant a sacred fertility to the new

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union. More such “wicked” and pagan rituals are attributed to Bu‘ur Ba‘ayr in Somalioral history. However, the finding of phallic stelae (Fig. 6) as well as ancientburial mounds at the site indicates that at least the site was previously used bynon-Muslims. Objects similar to the phallic stelae at Aw-Barkhadle are foundamongst other eastern Cushitic groups such as the Oromo and the Konso, whohave the Sky-God belief and other practices in common. These include thekallascha, a phallic symbol (Hallpike 1972), and the waga statues of theKonso. The phallic element is crucial as this symbol is very common in boththe archaeology and ethnography of the Horn, although it has been neitherreported nor analysed appropriately. In the Horn of Africa, there are severalarchaeological sites that have phallic gravestones. The two most well known ofthese sites are Tutu Fela (Fig. 7) and Tututi in southern Ethiopia (Joussaume1995). These stelae might be associated with the belief in Waaq. In the Somalicontext, it is possible that the wagar itself may have been a phallic object. Ifso, it could explain the ambiguousness of its appearance currently. The signif-icance of legends such as that of Bu‘ur Ba‘ayr evokes a sacred symbolicintercourse, perhaps involving a sacred man, a notion recalled by the phallicstelae. Thus, the Bu‘ur Ba‘ayr legend and fertility rituals such as that of thewagar may shed light on the motivation and ritual significance behind, forexample, the portable phallic stones. The case of Aw-Barkhadle rituals, thearchaeological landscape and associated material culture suggests a widespreadfertility ideology which might help explain many intriguing fertility symbols,including the phallic symbolism expressed through stelae and other gravemarkers in the Horn of Africa.

Fig. 6 A phallic stelae resting on its niche atop a Muslim grave at Aw-Barkhadle, September 2007 (Photo: byauthor)

104 Afr Archaeol Rev (2015) 32:93–109

The Wagar, the Man in the Tree, and Waaq the Sky-God

Waaq belief is the most likely non-Islamic/non-Christian belief which would have beencontemporary to or predated Islam, and with which legends such as that of Bu‘urBa‘ayr are most likely to have been associated. It is generally accepted to have beenpart of the Cushitic and pre-Christian/Islamic institutions in this region. Taking intoconsideration the above observations (the fertility rituals, rituals for accessing sacredfertility, phallic stelae, pre-Islamic mounds, myth of Bu‘ur Ba‘ayr and belief in Waaq),these all point to the wagar as part of pre-Islamic repertoire of belief in sacred trees andthe Aw-Barkhadle site.

Whether the wagar suggests a man or a woman (or both), one thing is clear; evennow, it remains associated with pre-Islamic religious power and belief in sacred trees. Itis possible that the wagar itself has changed appearance during Islamic times, perhapsto appear as nonfigurative as possible. This exclusion of certain characters is importantbecause it is what is not uttered or displayed, or expressed visually, that underlies thepower of the wagar.

First, it is important to think of the wagar as a mask: the person carrying it isdisplaying it towards something (evil spirits) and the mask disguises the carrier. It haspowers to perform an act, that of transforming relations between the carrier and thepotential aggressor for the purposes of protection.

Second, as a mask, the wagarmight be a feature of a sacred figure or deity veneratedfor his or her ritual efficacy in providing fertility within the Somali. In any case, it is atleast clear that the wagar transforms or communicates the idea of sacred trees, and assuch represents a medium for sacred power or divine fertility.

Lévi-Strauss (1982, p. 144) noted,

…a mask is not primarily what it represents but what it transforms, that is to say,what it chooses not to represent. Like a myth, a mask denies as much as it affirms.It is not made solely of what it says or thinks it is saying, but of what it excludes.

In order to understand what type of deity or power the wagar represents, then, thewider cultural context must be explored. This is crucial for examining the historical

Fig. 7 Tuto Fella phallic stelae cemetery. Copyright: David Coulson/TARA (with permission)

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meaning and uses of the wagar. The word waga/Waĝa (or Waaq) denotes the Sky-Godadhered to by many Cushitic people (including the Konso) in the Horn of Africa (Loo1991; Trimingham 1965), including the Somali in pre-Islamic times. That fact can alsobe associated with the practices of some Cushitic groups when marking graves. Forexample, the Konso use wooden sculptures to represent the deceased; these ancestralsculptures are also known as waga (Hallpike 1972). In addition, some Cushiticspeaking peoples who today adhere to the Sky-God call him Waĝa rather than Waaq(Bartels 1983; Hallpike 1972; Loo 1991; Trimingham 1965). Although the wordswagar and Waĝa (Waaq/Waqa)may suggest similarity, a reconstruction of the historicallinguistics behind them kindly carried out by Christopher Ehret for the purpose of thecurrent article, suggests no link (C. Ehret, pers. comm. 15/06/2013). Like the Konso,the Somali speak a proto-South Lowland Eastern Cushitic language (Ehret 1995,2012). Ehret suggests that the words *wagar and *Waak’ are distinct old Proto-Eastern Cushitic (PEC) roots. *Waak' means “rise up” and this suggests its meaningin the sky and relation to the Sky-God, while the PEC root *wagar simply means“olive” (C. Ehret, pers. com. 15/06/2013).

Belief in the Sky-God may relate to the myth of the man who was sitting in atree (perhaps a sacred tree, even an olive). This is a common myth of origin toldby Cushitic people of the Horn, particularly the Oromo, Afar, Saho and Somali(Luling 1988). According to this myth, a little girl discovered a stranger from thesky, a man, sitting on a tree, who would only agree to come down when he waspromised that he could marry the local girl who found him. He was allowed tomarry her, and the people emerged from their union. Versions of this myth arewidespread in the Horn. It seems to indicate a potential link between the notion oftrees and ancestral figures, as also exemplified by Konso waga sculptures. As anexample, the wagar is, as noted earlier, carved from the wood of a sacred tree.The sycamore tree is, similarly, venerated by Cushitic peoples (Burton 1966;Trimingham 1965, p. 260; cf. Hallpike 1972). More broadly, it can be said thatthe worship of trees is extremely important within many Cushitic-speaking societiesof the Horn even today, including the Konso and Oromo. Thus, the worship oftrees and its potential link with the wagar are relevant to discussions of Sky-Godbelief. The potential link is the sacred fertility that the wagar is considered toprovide. An investigation of the relationship between the idea of sacred trees, themyth of a man in a tree, and the wagar may suggest something of the deepernature of Waaq.

The Konso believe that the juniper is sacred (Hallpike 1972). The Oromo and theKonso hold that the ayaana (the spirits of destiny) inhabit the sycamore and Africanolive (wagar), and Oromo traditionalists consult such trees. Perhaps the Sky-GodWaaqwas thought to inhabit the sacred wagar tree within the Somali tradition. Currentlywithin Somali society, ayaana exist as spirits that are deeply associated with the self.These personal spirits are also called rooxaan and are now associated with local Sufimysticism.

Among the Oromo, the intermediary between Waaq and the people is a ritual expert,the Qallu, or highest spiritual leader, who is believed to be in constant communicationwith the deity. The most important custom of the Boorana is gadamoji, the initiationcycle, which lasts 8 years (Adamson 1967). The Ethiopist historian Carlo Conti Rossini(1872-1949), quoted in Trimingham, wrote (1965, pp. 260–261):

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I also observed another extravagant supervision, which we could scarcely expectfrom Mahomedans [Muslims]. They pay great respect to certain trees. There wasa tree in Mersa [in northern Ethiopia] which they particularly hold in greatreverence. My people, desiring to sit down under its shadow, were immediatelydriven away, lest the Adbar should be angry. Adbar means keeper or watchman.They grease this tree, and perform religious ceremonies under it. Nobody daretouch or damage the tree without risking a severe punishment.

Trees are consulted on issues of childbirth, as they are regarded as priests (Loo1991). Oromo daughters get ceremonial sticks from their fathers when they marrywhich they keep for the rest of their lives. These sticks are called Siqe (Adamson 1967,p. 271). The stick symbolises the girl’s power, and she carries it during the marriageceremony and in all other rituals thereafter. One of the holy trees of the Oromo is calleddampi. There are also sticks that the father gives to his sons in their initiation ceremony.

Waaq worship emphasises peace and harmony within the group, as well as betweennature and people. The Cushitic concept for this is nagi (peace/harmony), which is tobe maintained at all costs in order for the ancestors to bless the people. What ContiRossini witnessed showcases Cushitic peoples’ commitment to the protection of sacredtrees, such as the juniper, the sycamore and the African olive, which they care for and towhich they make sacrifices. They do this in order to propitiate the divine powers andprovide sacred fertility to the people. Not only is communal prosperity important, butconsiderable prestige is attributed to individual achievement. Achievements aresymbolised, in the case of the Konso, by the erection of waga sculptures at the graveof the diseased representing him, as well as sculptures representing his wife and anyenemies or big game he killed during his life.

Conclusions

This study has explored the wagar and its significance as a sacred medium withinfertility rituals. I argue that the wagar denotes a Cushitic (non-Islamic) symbol ofworship of sacred trees, past and present. Furthermore, the wagar may be linked withthe rituals of the pre-Islamic religion of Waaq, the Sky-God. The wagar might alsohave served as a symbol of a sacred deity within this belief, perhaps the Sky-GodWaaq. The wagar may be linked to the sacred site of Saint Aw-Barkhadle at thetwelfth-century Islamic ruined town of the area, previously known as Doggor.Analysis of the wagar and female fertility rituals may contribute to our understandingof the archaeological landscape there. The Sky-God belief seems to indicate a fertilityideology. The wagar, as well as the archaeologically known phallic grave markersdiscovered at Aw-Barkhadle and in other parts of the Horn of Africa, seem to be part ofsuch an ideology of fertility.

It is beyond the scope of this article to discuss the potential relationship between thesymbolisms of materials, rituals, spaces and indigenous religion at Aw-Barkhadle. Iexplore elsewhere (Mire forthcoming) the potential relationship between sacred stones,the phallic Kallascha of the Konso and Oromo, and archaeological phallic stelaetraditions from the Horn of Africa. However, by investigating historical legends ofpre-Islamic figures such as Bu‘ur Ba‘ayr associated with the sacred and ritual landscape

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of Aw-Barkhadle, and by recording/analysing the rituals that continue to take placethere, it becomes clear that we are dealing with a material culture associated withparticular ritual activities and landscape features. This material culture seems to belinked to a continuous tradition of ascribing ritual significance to fertility in the regionin general, and to a belief in Waaq (Waĝa) in particular.

Hence, these triadic data—rituals, sacred landscape and material culture—whichrelate to one another through female fertility rituals, assist in shedding light on thearchaeological landscape and the potentially continuous use of sites of this nature. Thisarticle is the first study of the wagar, and more relevant female fertility rituals will beexplored elsewhere. There needs to be further research from a holistic perspective suchthe knowledge-centred approach, which observes how memories, tradition, practice,symbolism and folklore (including proverbs/metaphors) can inform archaeologicalinquiry, and which combines ethnography, oral traditions, oral and written literature,historical linguistics and archaeology to shed light on aspects of the past, such as anatmosphere of religious syncretism in which such indigenous and non/pre-Christian/Islamic practices are adopted and used for reproduction purposes up to the present.

Acknowledgments Thanks to the anonymous reviewers for their valuable and constructive comments, andto my friends: Anne Moltes, who kindly translated the abstract into French, and Wendy Coleman and MarilynDownes, who proofread drafts. I am also grateful for comments from scholars on previous versions of thisstudy: Dr. David N. Edwards, Dr. Charlie Gore, Dr. G.R.D. King, Dr. Andrew Reid and Professor DavidWengrow. Special thanks to Dr. Mary Anne Murray, who identified the wood of my grandmother’s wagar, andto Professor Christopher Ehret, who reconstructed the linguistic history of the words wagar and Waaq (Waĝa)for this paper. I also thank all of my informants. I am eternally grateful to my mother and maternalgrandmother for introducing me to a part of my heritage I otherwise never would have known. Theshortcomings of this article are mine only.

Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License whichpermits any use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and the sourceare credited.

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